Make an Aluminum Can Lamp

...lamps back during the war. You can also use these lamps to heat up water. Making one is easy: 1. Remove the top off a can. We like to do this by scoring the inner ring of the top with a razor blade and then using a pair of pliers to bust it out. The fastidious and safety conscious may want to file down the sharp edge. 2. Cut a 2 1/2 inch square window out of one side of the can with a pair of scissors. 3. Now cut the bottom 1 1/2 inches off of an...

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Federico Tobon’s Kinetic Sculptures

...ments never before published and several which have only recently come into use by Henry T. Brown. Follow the link for a website with all the movements (and even some that have been animated!). A tip of the mechanical hat to Federico for both the amazing sculptures and for making Facebook, Instagram and Twitter worth looking at again. As Federico says: My personal rules for social media, inspired by @michaelpollan and @rootsimple: “Post positive t...

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Our New Open Floor Plan

...en disowned the practice. No doubt, within a fortnight I’ll be back on Facebook and Instagram posting my avocado toast lunches. How about open floor plans? In the click-baitiest blog post ever, I declared them a “death trap.” Then the good natured Will Wallus of the Weekend Homestead came on the podcast to gently defend open floor plans. Naturally, I’m spending this month making our house, gasp, more open. Let me explain. When I installed the floo...

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A Year after The Age of Limits: 5 Responses to the End Times

...yourself what’s in it for them. I thank John Michael Greer (especially his book Apocalypse Not) for his writings on this phenomenon, which I’d noticed, but could not articulate as well as he does. 2) The “Good Ol’ Days” were not good times for all of us Longing for a return to the Good Ol’ Days, when posited as the aftermath of the apocalypse of one’s choice, is a subset of point #1. But it is pervasive, and appears outside of end-times thinking,...

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108 Artist/Maker Federico Tobon

...me of the things we talk about: Federico’s new drill animation piece. Flip Book Kit. Shapeoko CNC Router. Doodlers Anonymous. The analog/digital continuum. Hundertwasser on 99% Invisible. Converting an old 3d printer into laser engraver. Federico on the Opposable Thumbs Podcast. Federico’s Warm Heart Automata animated sculpture. Arthur Ganson’s gear piece at the Exploritorium. Federico’s social media philosophy: “Post positive things. Mostly yours...

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